Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation

This is a discussion on Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation within Street Experiences, part of the Buckle Up category; Originally Posted by Jaguar
I tried to figure out who was the driver and try to talk to him aonly ...

I tried to figure out who was the driver and try to talk to him aonly to realize he is fully sloshed. He tells me, "I have license, go register a complaint, no settlement blah blah". Now, my smarty pants ******* comes along and says, "I am local president and this is my car, come to police station, take whatever insurance gives and go. Else we will kick you outsiders out of bangalore", IN FRONT OF THE COPS who shamelessly keep quiet. Meanwhile another cop tells my friend that if we register a drink and drive complaint, you will not get insurance and will have to wait for the case to go to court, so we will register an accident case and get you insurance. Mind you this accident happened at a Drink & Drive check.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Taking an advocate along to make sure we are not harassed by the cops. Since there is no physical injury, not pursuing the drink and drive case.

It is for cases like these that I keep numbers of senior cops handy. You can find it in this LINK . When on duty cops don't perform as expected it is perfectly alright to call up higher-ups right then even at odd hours. Policing is a 24*7 job and they cannot refuse to help you when you are becoming a victim of the system. You can check the FB page of BTP here. The senior cops were on duty late in the night on 31st December as posted in FB and the drunk driver in this case might have had to face the strong arm of the law if you would have reached out to the higher-ups on time.
My reckoning is that it is still not too late and you can file a complaint with Mr. Hitendra,ACP (9480801006) against the on-duty cops for dereliction of duty. As regards the logic of not wanting to start the year on a bad note etc. - Please remember it is YOU today- it can be someone else tomorrow. That is what Broken windows theory says.

Some one from BTP commented in the radio that there is no such drive. However I feel they should give a notice and start the crack down after that.

There is no question of a notice. The type helmets required to be worn have already been communicated. I have seen people wearing construction helmets and half helmets. High time the riders realise that it is for their safety and not for the traffic cops.:

Yesterday I had to pay Rs.100 as fine for not having a proper number plate in the front of my Activa. When I asked the Cop about this new rule, he said it was announced in all newspapers, TV, etc and he blamed me for being ignorant about it. As far as I know, the number should be legible and it should not be on the dome or mudguard.
The Cop said the new rule has been made after the murder of a journalist recently as the killers could not be captured by the cameras as they didn't have a proper number plate.

There is no question of a notice. The type helmets required to be worn have already been communicated. I have seen people wearing construction helmets and half helmets. High time the riders realise that it is for their safety and not for the traffic cops.:

And then there are people who wear ISI marked helmets half way through the head. And I've seen it fly off and land on the road. I can't imagine the plight of a motorist who might hit it. I sincerely hope strict action is taken against such violaters too.

Yesterday I had to pay Rs.100 as fine for not having a proper number plate in the front of my Activa. When I asked the Cop about this new rule, he said it was announced in all newspapers, TV, etc and he blamed me for being ignorant about it. As far as I know, the number should be legible and it should not be on the dome or mudguard.
The Cop said the new rule has been made after the murder of a journalist recently as the killers could not be captured by the cameras as they didn't have a proper number plate.

The problem is that the cops have one type of font and size which they say is right. Regardless of the number being legible and clear, if it doesn't meet their criteria, it is not right. Just like how they stop and fine people for one particular offense at a time when someone else will be riding or driving right next to them breaking another rule and they turn a blind eye to that.

Just watched the Home Minister's statement on helmets. The cops have been asked to give 15 days time for bikers to change their half helmets.

Also 1367 drunken drive cases have been booked on New Year's eve alone. Probably another few thousand got away. Some people are just keen on endangering their lives along with everyone else on the roads.

I am pretty happy that the traffic cops are going all out in Bangalore. The same sustained pressure over the next 6 months should see some discipline and also have their coffers full with another 50 crores.

The Cop said the new rule has been made after the murder of a journalist recently as the killers could not be captured by the cameras as they didn't have a proper number plate.

The last time someone told this reason to me that was how I reacted. So does that mean if we have the same letters on a plate the cameras can detect it? This was an easy excuse given by the police to hide their inefficiencies. Next time another crime happens, the household CCTV cameras will still be unable to detect the smallish number plate at front unless the camera is pretty close and the vehicle is stationary. Then they will instruct people to install boards on top of every vehicle so that the numbers can be visible even if you are far away. This reason is as absurd as the ban on sun films.

OTOH, the traffic cameras installed are pretty powerful in terms of pan, tilt and zoom, the only issue being it can only be made use of while recording and not afterwards. Hence in the event of a crime, unless the registration plate was zoomed into, it will still be difficult to spot.

However, I must say that I completely support the crackdown by the cops. They are going all out on offenders. The only thing which I don't agree with them are such reasons they give during their enforcement.

I am pretty happy that the traffic cops are going all out in Bangalore. The same sustained pressure over the next 6 months should see some discipline and also have their coffers full with another 50 crores.

Agree .

Sick of seeing hordes of barbarians on 2 & 4 wheels freely breaking every rule possible. I hope they crack down and maintain it.

Correct. I suddenly realised my TVS Wego has a trapezium shaped registration board in the front. This was installed by the dealer at the time of purchase. Will have to get the approved specification ones installed soon. This action by the cops has been in the papers and on news for a long time now.

If anyone gets caught, they would have to pay up the fine. It is a violation as per books. No amount of cribbing or blaming cops for letting ten other violators go and catcing you is going to help. I am glad they are cracking down severely on violators.

People have become such indisciplined road users with scant regard and courtesy for other users. Need to come back to earth the hard way.

OTOH, the traffic cameras installed are pretty powerful in terms of pan, tilt and zoom, the only issue being it can only be made use of while recording and not afterwards. Hence in the event of a crime, unless the registration plate was zoomed into, it will still be difficult to spot.

Maybe the cameras are high definition and required huge storage space hence they do not have record and storage functionality.

The CCTVs used for home security would be of low resolution in order to store data for 2 days worth of recording. Even that might be exaggerated.

OT:
Right and I am aware of this too. Which is what I meant when I said they have a fixed type of font and size. What I was trying to say is that even though we may use another style of font which is as clear and big and on the standard size number plate, they may say that it is not correct since it doesn't adhere to what they have in mind.

While I am fine with the enforcement, I am not OK with the inistance on the shape or even the presence of the number plate. The act only requires you to have the number in specified size (no font is specified).

Extract from the act:

77. Exhibition of registration mark.—(1)The registration mark assigned under subrules (5) to (7) of rule 76 shall be clearly exhibited in reflecting colour both at the front and rear of the vehicle on the plain surface of a plate or part of the veliicle and the size of which shall be 41 centimetres by 14 centimetres—

(i) with deep blue background, the registration mark and the number being in white in the case of motor vehicles referred to in sub-rule (6) of rule 76;
(ii) with yellow background, the registration mark and the number being in black, in the case of motor vehicles referred to in sub-rule (7) of rule 76;
(iii) with light green background, the registration mark and the number being in white in case of motor vehicles referred to in rule 76-B.]

(2) The registration mark shall be in English letters and Arabic numerals and—

(i) save in the case of a motor cycle or an invalid carriage, the letters shall be not less than 6 centimetres high and 2 centimetres thick at any part, the numerals shall be not less than 9 centimetres high and 2 centimetres thick at any part, and there shall be a space between any letter and any numeral and between any letter or any numeral and the edge of the plain surface of not less than 1 centimetre and a space between any two letters and between any two numerals of not less than 1 centimetre; and
(ii) in the case of a motor cycle or an invalid carriage, the dimensions of the letters and figures shall not be less than two-thirds of those specified in clause (i).

(3) The plain surface referred to in sub-rule (2) shall not be inclined from the vertical by more than thirty degrees. The letters and numerals shall be exhibited as follows:—
(i)

in the case of a transport vehicle, the registration mark shall be exhibited in two separate horizontal lines, the number allotted to the mission or post and the letters forming the first line followed by the number allotted by the registering authority in the second line; and
(ii) in all other cases, the registration mark may exhibit the letters and numerals either in two horizontal lines as aforesaid or in one horizontal line.

So most of their bookings for number plate violation is in direct contravention of the law. No font specification. No plate requirement. The size of the background area is specified. The height & spacing is specified. That is all.

The best solution would be for the government to issue plates when the vehicle is registered and requiring all vehicles to only use government issued plates. Anything else, even if identical, is illegal.

The act only requires you to have the number in specified size (no font is specified).
[snip]
No font specification. No plate requirement. The size of the background area is specified. The height & spacing is specified. That is all.

You need to read Rule 77 along with Rules 50 & 51; those go into some of the details you think are missing.